Waco
– The old boy's name is Charlie and he's angry. You could fry an
egg on the top of his head, the part where the heat waves are rising
up into the air.
Looking
over the top of his reading glasses, he stares me down for asking his
name following an emotional plea to the McLennan County Commissioners
Court.
His
saga started when his mother and father-in-law, John and Shirley
Frields of the 4400 block of Kendall Lane in Waco, asked the McLennan
County Appraisal District and Tax Assessor-Collector Buddy Skeen to
consolidate two contiguous parcels they own and grant them a
homestead exemption for their advanced age over 65.
From
there, the events spiraled out of control when a file clerk mislaid
the application, and...
Best
to let Charlie, whose name is Charles Burch, according to public
records of the transaction, tell the story in his own way.
“No
one will admit they made a made mistake,” he told Commissioners,
and The Legendary believes him, looking at the record.
Here
are the bare bones facts, confusing though they may be.
The
collector assessed interest and penalties in each of the taxing
entities after they had paid their taxes for 2010 and 2011. They sent
in a check for $2,193.64 on January 31. On January 20, they made
their application to change their homestead exemption status and
merge the two parcels, but they were billed the above figure.
On
April 16, they got a letter from attorneys who handle these matters
demanding $893.85 for the year 2010.
Wrong.
“Our
intention was to pay the taes before any penalty which is why we paid
the amount due before th echanges 1/31/12. We were expeting to only
receive the net amount due after he changes had been made.”
Then
they met with Buddy Skeen, who is under a list of indictments as long
as your arm for various allegedly crooked dealings regarding sales
taxes on vehicles misapplied from others owned by the county and –
well – that's that another story, isn't it.
“We
do understand your frustration with the system but, the Tax
Assessor/Collector does not have he ability to forgive penalty and
interest.”
Each
entity must give the green light to something like that.
County
Judge Jim Lewis told Charlie that his in-laws are eligible to receive
only something like $90 in forgiven interest and penalties from
McLennan County. In any case, the Court ran backwards from giving
their approval after Charlie ran into Precinct 1 Kelly Snell in the
rotunda. Mr. Snell is Charlie's Commissioner while his in-laws live
in Joe Mashek's Precinct 3.
The Court ran backwards from making any decision right away. They deferred pending advice from their attorney.(click here for the minority report)
Listen to Charlie's side of the story:(click here for another minority report)
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